Strawberry Kiss-aten 🍓
Chapter 4
Kuchiki Byakuya didn't meet Shiba Ichigo again until he found Rukia harping about a café at the new Shiba Shopping District to Renji.
It had been months since the meeting and though Byakuya had received the official proposal, the contract and its amendments, he had yet to lay eyes on the auburn-haired young man again. Most of the discussions were made with Shiba Kaien or the solicitors that they hired to settle the agreement.
The shopping district was one of the projects in the first phase to be launched, but Byakuya himself had yet to visit the place. He should though, since the elders had yet to come to a conclusion on whether the clan as a whole would contribute to the rejuvenation project. His report on the shopping district would help sway their decision.
"Rukia," Byakuya called to his sister. "I will go with you and Renji."
"Eh?" Rukia gave him a wide-eyed look, having not realised that her adopted brother had heard her every word. "Niisama, I didn't think you would be interested...?"
Byakuya gestured to his fukutaichou and sister to lead the way, "Shiba Kaien proposed a rejuvenation project for the residents of Rukongai. The shopping district is part of the first phase to be launched. I would like to visit the place and take a look."
With a delighted 'Yes!", Rukia led them through the district, showing them the walkways across the lotus pond where storks and cranes were fishing, the food stalls that boasted street snacks, souvenir shops selling quality ornaments, clothing stores and lastly, the café that she recommended.
Byakuya knew that his adopted sister usually restrained her enthusiasm in front of him, too nervous and anxious to earn his approval. Seeing her happily walk down the gangway leading to the café, Byakuya hoped that this outing would encourage her to be more honest with her feelings when she was with him.
"Ichigo!" she called out as she swung open the door, the bell hanging above head ringing loudly.
Byakuya did not expect her to know that name, much less be comfortable enough to call the owner by his given name.
"Rukia!" Shiba Ichigo greeted from behind the counter, poking his head out from a display case. When he caught sight of Renji and Byakuya, his smile widened.
"Byakuya, Renji! Welcome!"
Byakuya felt himself freeze at the informal greeting. He didn't know what face he was making, focused as he was in the way Ichigo's grin reached his eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Rukia pause and stare at him before swiveling towards Ichigo.
When Byakuya didn't say anything about Ichigo using his given name, Rukia spluttered. "Niisama...?"
"Today's lunch features karashi mentaiko, so I hope you like spicy food," Ichigo continued, preparing a drink as a dark-haired girl appeared from behind the counter to lead them to a table.
"I'm Karin," the dark-haired girl introduced herself, looking bored. "Do you want menus or would you like 'Niisan to recommend a new drink to you? He has a knack for knowing what you might like."
"I'm fine with whatever Ichigo recommends," Rukia said quickly. Then, she told the two men, "I haven't tried everything on the menu yet so Ichigo recommends different drinks to me every time I come."
Byakuya was amazed. Rukia have spoken more words to him in a single day than she'd ever had before. She also look far more relaxed than she'd ever been in his presence. She even sat up and knelt on the seat to watch the stage when three performers drifted onto the dais wearing dresses that resembled peacock feathers.
"Anything Ichigo recommends," Byakuya repeated the words. He didn't see Renji turn to him in surprise at the informal way he called the strawberry blond.
Ichigo came soon after, bearing a tray with drinks for the three of them. Rukia was presented with a green tea latte with delicate white sakura jelly floating on top. Renji was given a tall drink of vivid red and orange that fizzed ominously.
As the two younger shinigami oohed and ahhed over their respective drinks, Byakuya himself was given a cup with steaming brown liquid with white foam on top. On the foam was a drawing of Ambassador Seaweed.
"Rukia told me that you were the one who designed this character," Ichigo said with a teasing smile before leaving to help another group of customers flagging at him.
Byakuya felt no shame at admitting his hobby. It had allowed him to connect with Rukia when she first found his drawings and cooed over the cute character. It made her feel free enough to open up to him.
Needless to say, Ambassador Seaweed held a special place in his heart.
Seeing his precious creation, such a personal thing, dedicated back to him... it was doing something to him.
"This is good," Renji looked surprised at his drink after taking a sip. "It's a little bubbly on the tongue though."
"It's the soda," Rukia informed him. "It's a drink from the living world that Ichigo adds in to produce the fizz."
Hearing that made Byakuya loosen the fist his right hand was in (when did that even happen?). That was new information to Byakuya, Ichigo using produce from the living world for his café. How did he manage to get this soda? Did Shiba Kaien obtain it for him?
"How is your drink, 'Niisama?" Rukia asked, curiously peering at his drink and only discovering the drawing on it. "It's Ambassador Seaweed! How cute!"
"You showed him a picture of my drawing?" Byakuya asked her and she smiled sheepishly.
"I did," she admitted. "I wanted to know if he knows how to make cookies with that shape. He said that he would have to make specialised moulds for it."
"I didn't expect him to draw Ambassador Seaweed on drinks though," she said excitedly. "I wonder if he can draw Chappy for me next time?"
Byakuya took a sip of his drink, carefully avoiding smudging the drawing. It became lopsided and he immediately felt regretful at the sight of it. It was truly a nice drawing from Ichigo.
He was so preoccupied with the drawing that it took him a little longer to become aware of the slight bitterness underlying the fragrant cream and sweetness on his tongue. His drink was a coffee latte, he believe Ichigo called it. Even though he didn't really like sweets, he found himself liking this unusual drink.
"It's chewy," Rukia informed Renji when he asked her about the little transparent blocks of jelly atop her drink. In them were little cherry blossom buds. She was passing one to Renji to let him try when Ichigo arrived with their lunch boxes.
"I hope you enjoy the drinks and food," Ichigo said, placing a beautifully made bentou box in front of Byakuya. There were crispy chicken karaage, agedashi tofu and miso glazed eggplants in each compartment and on top of the fluffy rice was a generous helping of the karashi mentaiko that Ichigo mentioned before.
Byakuya tentatively picked up his chopsticks to try the rice mixed with the mentaiko. The tingle of spice hit his tongue immediately and he hummed with approval. It was just the right amount of spiciness that he preferred.
The three of them ate in silence, enjoying the meal even as Rukia drank the extra water Ichigo brought her when she complained about the spiciness. At one point, a stork landed at the railing near their table and a girl with long brown hair ran out to offer it a small fish so it wouldn't disturb their customers.
"That's Yuzu," Rukia pointed out. "She's Ichigo's youngest sister."
So that's the one Yoruichi was scared of upsetting, thought Byakuya, watching the girl gently coax the stork to fly away.
After lunch, Ichigo came to retrieve the lunchboxes and clean their table. But before they could leave, he arrived with water and some cookies.
"Palate cleansers," he said, placing the cups and plate in front of them. Then he waited with his tray, watching their reactions.
Rukia took one look at the plate and squealed, "You did it!"
The cookies were seaweed cookies in the shape of Ambassador Seaweed and Byakuya couldn't help but admire them with a keen eye. When he looked up, Ichigo was waiting for his response with a large expectant smile.
Much to his own surprise, the smile made the long still heart in his chest jump a beat.
"They're perfect," Byakuya said, giving Ichigo a soft smile he couldn't quite hide.
Beside him, both Renji and Rukia was staring at him with eyes as large as dinner plates.
And for once, Kuchiki Byakuya just couldn't bring himself to care.
****
Every week after that, Rukia would request Renji fetch her favourite cookies from Strawberry Kiss-aten.
Inevitably, Byakuya would end up walking with his fukutaichou to the shopping district to purchase his own preferred cookies, even though he could have easily tasked his vice-captain to buy it for him as well.
Every time he went to Strawberry Kiss-aten, Ichigo would smile at him in a way that made Byakuya heart skip a beat. It was, frankly, a little intimidating to find himself in such a situation. The last time he had such a visceral reaction was when he first met Hisana and... well... it hadn't ended pleasantly for his heart.
Still, Byakuya could never bring himself to regret loving Hisana and now, with Ichigo... perhaps it wouldn't be so bleak for him to maybe hope for a better outcome this time.
****
It only took all of three visits before Byakuya realised that Rukia only ever asked Renji to go buy her cookies when her brother was with his fukutaichou.
He couldn't believe he was so transparent that even his sister saw through him so easily.
Still, it was nice to know that Rukia supported his feelings for the strawberry blonde.
Now, if only he knew how to approach a certain Shiba clan head about a marriage proposal without getting decapitated.
***
Byakuya found out that his suspicions about Shiba Kaien being an overprotective brother figure to be true when he found Rukia huddling in his bedroom closet in an attempt to hide from her fukutaichou.
Apparently, she had accidentally revealed Byakuya's feelings for Ichigo to Shiba Kaien and he was not happy with either of the Kuchikis. Her sheepish smile did not ease his frown though he did not confront Shiba Kaien for terrorising his sister. He knew it was a matter a time before Shiba Kaien made his move.
Sure enough, two days later, Shiba Kaien requested a private meeting with him.
Walking into the meeting, Byakuya was prepared to be challenged to a duel by the overprotective Shiba clan head. Was even expecting Nejibana to be stabbed right at his head the moment he opened the door.
Instead, Shiba Kaien sat at the table of Byakuya's receiving room drinking tea, looking calm and collected but subdued. On his left cheek, there was a healing bruise.
"Ichigo didn't appreciate me terrorising his friends because I couldn't respect his choice," Shiba Kaien explained away said bruise. "Especially my own squad member. We got into a fight. It was a brutal beatdown."
Looking at his bruised face and apparent humility, Byakuya could safely presume that Ichigo was the one doing the beatdown. For some reason, the thought made Byakuya feel inexplicably proud. And given the elevated healing factor of a shinigami, that injury would have been quite severe if it took so many days to recover. Again, Byakuya was left with wondering why Ichigo didn't go on to become a shinigami.
"I already apologised to Rukia and Matsumoto," Shiba Kaien continued. "Ichigo insisted on it. Well, even if he didn't, I would have done it anyway."
"I've been experiencing a lot of stress because of the proposals coming through for Ichigo," the other man said with a sigh. "It's not a great reason, but that's why I kinda lost it when I heard about your... thing for my cousin."
Byakuya paused at that. Proposals? From whom?
"He's young, you know," Shiba Kaien continued speaking, not realising he'd just dropped a bomb on Byakuya. "Younger than all of us. But he's always been mature for his age and he knows what he wants. Never backs down until he gets what he wants. He's always been like that. Focused and determined."
"So, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that your feelings are reciprocated," Shiba Kaien said with a sigh, running a hand through his dark hair. "And I've thought about it. You're not the worst marriage candidate for him. You're the best one, in fact. For one, I know that you won't simply propose because of connections or some such nonsense."
It was true, but Byakuya felt no need to reply to the assumption.
"Us, Shiba, we don't care for lineage or blood purity," Shiba Kaien continued with a large wave of his hand. "What matters to us is love."
"And considering you defied your elders wishes to marry your late wife," Shiba Kaien said, making Byakuya's brow tilt downwards. "Your devotion is true and admirable. It is something my clan can respect-"
"Shiba-fukutaichou," Byakuya interrupted quite rudely. "If you are here to ask if my feelings for Ichigo is true, then I can assure you that what I feel for Ichigo does not pale in comparison to what I felt for my Hisana. But love is not something to be compared."
"So, it is love," Shiba Kaien caught on immediately. "Good."
"Because my cousin has never bothered with anyone before," the Shiba head revealed. "You're the first one he's ever shown genuine interest in."
Byakuya's eyes widened at that implication.
"So, don't disappoint me, Kuchiki Byakuya," Shiba Kaien pointed at him.
Catching the meaning of his words immediately, Byakuya nodded in gratitude. It was good to receive the blessing of Ichigo's clan head.
"At least you will be a better choice than that asshole Tokinada," Shiba Kaien grumbled under his breath. At this, Byakuya frowned at him.
"What did Tsunayashiro do?" Byakuya asked, fingers twitching for Senbonzakura. "Was he the one who sent the proposal?"
"He's not the only one, but he is the most persistent," Shiba Kaien griped, finally able to get it off his chest. He'd been hiding the annoying proposal letters from Ichigo and burning them when no one was looking. "I told him to stay away and what does he do? Send delivery requests specifically asking for Ichigo. To his home! The audacity! Luckily, the café haven't started on delivery service yet."
"Hire delivery workers," Byakuya suggested quickly and Shiba Kaien gave him a scathing look.
"We're training them right now," the fukutaichou shot back. Then he shook his head, "Never mind that. I came here for another reason."
Byakuya tilted his head to indicate he was listening and Shiba Kaien stated his request, "I want your formal engagement to take place as soon as possible, but you must postpone the wedding for another decade."
"Why?" Byakuya questioned. A decade!?
"Your early formal engagement will get those harpies off my back as soon as possible," Shiba Kaien replied. "Your prolonged engagement would allow the two of you time to learn more about each other, become more comfortable with the idea of being married to each other and it will give you both time to think things through."
"Furthermore, I wasn't joking when I said Ichigo was young," Shiba Kaien said with a roll of his eyes. "If possible, I would have wanted him to remain single for another 50 years, but that boy is so stubborn. Won't hear a word of it. When I said that it's too quick, he just ignored me."
"I bet he loves stubbornly too. So you're in for it," Shiba Kaien warned, but Byakuya didn't react to the threat.
Because the truth was, Kuchiki Byakuya loves stubbornly too.
*
*
End of Chapter 4
Notes:
So, Ichigo's favourite food is Karashi Mentaiko and Byakuya's fave food is spicy food. Is it a coincidence?
I THINK NOT!!!
lol I just had to bring it up






















